Where to have children's birthday parties in the Portland area

In my mind, the ideal child's birthday party takes place in our back yard, with burgers and dogs on the grill, cake and ice cream on the picnic table, kids and babies roaming as they please, our friends enjoying their adult beverages of choice. We've had a few of these and when the weather cooperates, they're awesome.

But the reality is, both my kids have spring birthdays and we live in Oregon. We have a small house on a street with little parking.

But really, when you think about it, is an offsite party really that much more expensive than having the party at home, especially when you figure in all the time and energy you expend cleaning the house before the party, driving around shopping for stuff for the party, decorating the house for the party, preparing food for the party, actually holding the party, and then cleaning the house after the party?

Suddenly, the offsite party starts to look like a bargain. And a no-brainer.

Here's a look at birthday party sites in the Portland/Vancouver area. Feel free to add your favorites!

• Archers Afield: Treat your aspiring Legolas or Katniss Everdeen to an archery party at this indoor range in Tigard. If your child has never drawn back a bowstring, parties include mini-lessons.

• Bricks and Minifigs: Got a Lego fan? The Beaverton location of this franchise has a party room where kids can indulge their passion for creating and designing. There are two other Portland-area locations in Canby and Battle Ground.

• Camp Dakota: This Marion County campground doubles as an adventure park that hosts paintball birthday parties and lots of other fun.

• The Children's Gym: Kids can choose between Irish Dancing or gymnastics parties at this children's fitness facility in Northeast Portland.

• Chuck E. Cheese: OK, I am not a big fan of Chuck E. Cheese, but the company obviously knows what it's doing. In Oregon, the chain has locations in Beaverton, Southeast Portland, Salem and Springfield.

• GameTime: This Lake Oswego family entertainment center has an arcade, a full-service restaurants, several private rooms and two small bowling alleys.

• GameTruck: This franchise bills itself as a mobile party truck that comes to the location of your choice. Actually, there are three trucks, says representative Tony Karais: two mobile video game theaters, where kids play inside, and a LaserTag truck that carries equipment to be set up inside or outside. The video game truck is for kids ages 6 and up and the LaserTag is for ages 8 and up.

• Grand Central: Sometimes bowling and pizza are all you need for a good time. (And there's lots more than pizza on the menu at this Southeast Portland spot.)

• Groove Nation: Birthday party themes at this Vancouver dance academy are Little Ballerina, Little Swag Hip Hop, Holly Rock Jazz and Tappity Tap. Parties are best for ages 5 and up. The dance academy has two Vancouver locations, one on the east side and one on the west side.

• Kellogg Bowl: This Milwaukie bowling alley has both bumpers and a special bowling slide for kids -- it's the bowling equivalent of T-ball. Just position the slide in front of the lane, place the ball on top of the slide and let it roll.

• Kids Cooking Corner: This Vancouver nonprofit is especially proud of its work with special-needs kids.

• Kruger's Farm Market: This Sauvie Island farm is a lovely setting for summer and early fall parties.

• Lego Store: The Lego Store at Washington Square does birthday parties with various themes for ages 6 and up; if your Lego fanatic is under 6, you can buy a "party kit" to take home.

• Little Engineers: This Tigard outfit is the birthday party site for kids who love robotics, stop animation, computer programming, and video game design, especially when they involve Legos.

• The Little Gym (local franchises in Lake Oswego and Corvallis): This place turned out to be perfect for my high-energy son's 4th birthday; a teacher led him and his friends in 45 minutes of physical games and activities before they sat down for cake and presents. The staff provided the invitations, helped set out the snacks I'd brought for the parents, wrote up a list of who gave which presents, and helped carry the presents out to our car.

• Little Pixels: A reader recommends this Beaverton photo studio, where she's hosted fashion show/photo shoot parties for her "little fashionista" daughters. Kids get to dress up and do a real photo shoot on a lighted stage.

• Mad Science Laboratory: This North Portland facility offers 2-hour parties that include an interactive experiment and a personal Mad Scientist to run the show.

• Metro Gymnastics Center: My son had a blast at a birthday party at this spot near Bridgeport Village. While the Little Gym has equipment that's scaled down to preschool size, this is a real gymnastics facility. But the staff provides age-appropriate activities, including an inflatable.

• Milagros Boutique: This Northeast Portland shop has a family room that it will make available for birthday parties.

• My Masterpiece Art Studio: At this Beaverton art studio exclusively for kids, partygoers move from station to station to create ceramics, pastels, paintings and more.

• Movie trips: One of my mom friends has a daughter who is nuts about "High School Musical" and whose birthday happened to arrive the week that HSM3 came out. So pretty much all my friend had to do was take a bunch of kids to the movie theater. In the Portland area, you can have movie birthday parties at Regal Cinemas and Century Theatres.

• North Clackamas Aquatic Park: This water park in Milwaukie has several water slides, a wading pool for tots, a hot tub, a Big Surf wave pool, a rock wall and an outdoor sand volleyball court.

• Oaks Park: An oldie but a goodie, Oaks Park in Sellwood offers roller skating parties year round and midway ride parties from April to September.

• Oregon Dream Ponies: A reader writes that her 5-year-old daughter enjoyed a birthday "pony experience," which included a pony ride and learning about pony care and grooming. Says Mom: "The Newberg setting of the place is beautiful, smack in the middle of wine country. The owners, Kim & Bob Taylor, deliver a memorable day and are so great with kids. Kim has a teaching background and has found the perfect way to pair two passions."

• Oregon Fencing Alliance: Bet you didn't know there were fencing parties! They're held at the group's Beaverton center.

• Oregon Zoo: We haven't yet had the good fortune to attend a party here, but we sure would love an invitation!

• Out of This World Pizza and Play: If we lived closer to Hillsboro, I'd be booking our "Star Wars" fan's next birthday party here. He would love the whole space theme, especially the "Crater Crawl."

• PDX Sports Center (formerly SoccerPlex): Live in the Beaverton area and have a kid who wears her Portland Timbers jersey to bed? Try a party at this indoor soccer complex, which also has a basketball court, dance studio and pool.

• Play Boutique: Though we haven't been to a birthday party at this downtown Lake Oswego spot, we've stopped in for playtime and we were impressed. A second location is in Beaverton's Progress Ridge section.

• PlayDate PDX: It's basically an indoor play structure in the Pearl District, but it's a really, really big one -- 7,500 square feet -- that will hold kids' interest up into the early elementary grades. Bonus: An onsite cafe sells espresso.

• Portland Rock Gym: The one and only time I've been to this Southeast Portland gym, it was for an adult's birthday party, but kids' parties are quite welcome, too.

• Pump It Up: If your kid likes inflatables, this is the place for you! For the preschool set, there's a Pump It Up Jr. with smaller inflatables off Cornell Road.

• Quarry Ridge Farm: If you live in Clark County and you have a little girl who's crazy about horses, a pony party at this Battle Ground farm might be just the thing.

• Rose City Ceramics: Party packages range from $16 to $30 a person at this pottery business with two locations, Beaverton and Happy Valley.

• Safari Sam's: This Sherwood spot claims to have "Oregon's Largest Jungle Gym" along with mini golf, bouncy houses, a game room and more.

• Salem's Riverfront Carousel: On a day trip that had us driving through Salem, we decided to give the kids a break by letting them out of the car to ride the carousel. We got there right as a birthday party did. What a great idea for Salem families!

• Spark Arts Center: At this facility in Northeast Portland's Hollywood District, the staff sets up and handles several stations for different arts and crafts projects -- beading, "spin art" using a salad spinner, paint with marbles, a collage center, window painting, clay. Parties last two hours and the store provides cake-cutting tools, paper plates, napkins and utensils, as well as a small art supply as a party favor for each guest. Kids move from one activity to another depending on their interest.

• Sunset Lanes Bowling Center: After the kids are done bowling, they can head to the arcade at this Beaverton venue for air hockey and more.

• Sub Zero Ice Cream & Yogurt: This Washington Square outlet of a national chain lets you customize made-on-the-spot desserts with flavors such as blackberry, lime and vanilla and mix-ins such as almonds, Oreos and Twix.

• SuperPlay: At the former site of Valley Lanes in Beaverton, kids can once again enjoy bowling, as well as laser tag.

• Tigard Bowl: No arcade here - it's all about the bowling. But they do have a slushy machine and Pizza Caboose next door.

• Topgolf: Golf meets skeeball in this fun-focused driving range in Hillsboro; kids don't need any golfing experience. Order food and drink from a full-service restaurant and bar.

• Tryon Creek State Natural Area: If you have a budding naturalist, the Friends of Tryon Creek can set you up with a special group experience in this state park.

• Voicebox Karaoke Lounge: If your child dreams of the day he or she will audition for "American Idol," consider a party at Voicebox, a family-friendly Northwest Portland karaoke lounge that offers private rooms and a menu of yummy appetizers.

• WeVillage: This child care company also does birthday parties at its three locations: the Pearl District, Happy Valley and Orenco Station. All are bright, clean and fun spaces.

• Wunderland: These nickel arcades throughout the Portland area offer a budget-friendly approach. The most recently upgraded Wunderland, in Tanasbourne (formerly in Cedar Hills), also has laser tag and a theater.

This business is closed as of August 2018. • Ynot Have Fun: How about 5,000 square feet of laser tag with black light and glowing pillars and passages? There's also a game arcade. It's in Beaverton. (This venue was previously known as Copper Monkey.)